The Smith boys finally got a Piedmont Triad win Friday night as Justin Ellerbe and Jamie Totten led the Eagles to a 59-42 win over Kernersville Glenn.
However, the Smith girls lost for the first time in conference play, to defending regular-season champion Glenn by a 62-54 count.
Ellerbe scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as Smith put away the Bobcats for its first win in three Piedmont Triad 3-A tries. Totten, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
Smith (1-2, 10-4) built a 25-14 halftime lead. The third quarter had little scoring, but the Eagles still led 29-19 going into the fourth period. The final stanza was a scoring fest, won by Smith 30-23. Ellerbe and teammate Quintin Jackson did most of the damage in the final quarter from the line.Smith made 17 of 28 from the line to put the game out of reach. Jackson finished with 11 points.
Angelo Evans led the Bobcats (2-3, 7-7) with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Smith now has a league win and has a two-game winning streak -- after beating Grimsley 50-48 Wednesday night -- going into its rivalry game at Dudley Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, the Lady Bobcats left themselves sitting pretty after scoring the major win over Smith, the preseason favorite in the conference. And it was a Lady Bobcat who has been missing for a while that made the difference.
With the return of Tasha Harris to the lineup, the Glenn girls (5-0, 10-6) have become the team to beat in the PTC. Harris, who missed the first half of the season for disciplinary reasons, scored 22 points to lead the Lady Bobcats past Smith.
"This is a big win because it put us in first place right now," Glenn coach Marty Stanley said. "Smith had only lost one game all year long, so it was a good measure for us as a team."
Center Christy Graham led Smith (2-1, 11-2) with 19 points and Tamisha Seagroves added 15. Tonya Fralin had 14.
However, junior forward Nicole Patterson, the Lady Golden Eagles' top all-around player, played at less than full speed with a bruised foot. She had only four points./P>
Harris led the Lady Bobcats to a 27-14 lead midway through the second quarter, but Seagroves and Fralin brought BLS back. They began to peck away at the Glenn 2-3 zone with outside jumpers. By halftime Smith had shaved the lead to 32-28.
Glenn led 47-42 at the end of the third quarter, despite the Lady Eagles leading twice early in the period. Smith closed within four in the final period, but Glenn went to a spread offense and worked two minutes off the clock. Harris converted a three-point play down the stretch to seal the verdict.
Lashanta Johnson added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Glenn. Mary Lazenby totaled 10.
Up Next: Smith plays at Dudley Tuesday night. The Lady Golden Eagles play at 6 o'clock. The boys' game will start at 7:30.
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